Whom do we trust? — Nurses

In the survey, 85 percent of those polled rated nurses “very high” for their honesty and ethical standards and 12 percent gave nurses an “average” rating. Just 3 percent gave them a “very low/low” rating.

Americans had a slight lower opinion of doctors with 70 percent of those polled giving physicians a “very high” rating. Twenty-six percent gave doctors an “average” rating and 4 percent a “very low/low” rating.

Psychiatrists came in lower still, with only 41 percent of those polled given them a “very high” rating, while 43 percent rated them “average” and 11 percent giving them a “very low/low” rating.

Towards the bottom of the list, we find HMO managers, whose honesty and ethics were rated “very high” by only 12 percent, “average” by 52 percent, and “very low/low” by 27 percent.

Car salespeople came in dead last — just after members of Congress, whose honesty and ethical standards were rated “very high” by only 10 percent of those polled, “average” by 34 percent, and “very low/low” by 54 percent.

For the sake of argument, one could contend that our health-care system is not run by physicians, but by the executives of insurance companies, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, who might be ranked less favorably than were doctors and nurses.

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